If you're like me, you've invested waay too much blood (slipped wrenches), money (great googly-moogly), and tears (on the verge of a breakdown from that super-frozen head bolt with a rounded head that's damn near impossible to reach--well, I've been fortunate enough to not have experienced this, but I've heard of horror stories from others). The last thing you'd want is some jerk to steal your car and do unspeakable acts with it while in their possession.
Anti-theft car alarms with starter kill switches and microwave motion sensors are all good and dandy and "The Club" may scare off novice thieves. But, both are easily defeated by the newer, smarter car thieves. No matter how much you spend on your alarm, it doesn't take much "force it" to shutdown--I'd mention different techniques, but I don't want some idiot out there reading this page and trying them out. The Club? I just saw an infomercial showing how thieves used a big-ass pipe with the same diameter as the U-bracket (that holds onto the steering wheel) pry it off the main bar. It took less than 10 seconds to break The Club and another 10 seconds to start the car and drive off with it. Freaking out, yet? Good, you should be...
So, what can you do now? Easy--install one or both of these following reliable antitheft devices. It's my belief that these are the only two that really work because it forces the thief to think hard about how to bypass the systems. And we all know that means they'll just forget about trying to steal your car and move on to another, more vulnerable one. Sure, you'll most likely have messed up key cylinders, shattered glass, and torn up upholstery (prob'ly from the jerk getting frustrated!), but, at least, your car will still be yours!
The following fuel pump kill switch is the intellectual property of Phil Bradshaw. As long as you have an electrically powered fuel pump, this kill switch will work for you. The hardest part will be finding inconspicuous spots to mount the different components. Phil's included easy-to-follow instructions, so unless "your bag" ain't electrical wiring/components, it shouldn't take more than a few hours to do a clean job.
NOTE: On almost all Toyotas, the positive fuel pump wire is blue-black
and the ground is white-black.
Another antitheft device that I really like is the use of an inline check valve for the hydraulic brake system. When you're ready to get out of the car, you turn the key on a small module (this "arms" the check valve), step on the brake pedal, and get out of the car. The brakes at all four corners are applied until you disable the system--thieves won't be able to roll the car one bit! When you're ready to leave, "unlock" the check valve by turning the key, and that's it. I don't think car thieves will carry around extra brake lines, brake fluid, and even more tools just to circumvent this device. I saw this product a few years ago, but haven't seen one in the mainstream catalogs for a while. Hopefully, some company out there has something like it available to the public.
Courtesy of "Esteban,"
www.tsmmfg.com/Brakelock_System.htm